October 11, 2017 @ 12:00 pm - 2:00 pm

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Dreger, Alice, “Twenty Years of Working Toward Intersex Rights.” (forthcoming) Bioethics in Action edited by Francoise Baylis and Alice Dreger. Cambridge University Press.

Abstract:

Like a lot of academics who have become advocates for patients and medical research subjects, I took up intersex rights work two decades ago because what was occurring in clinics looked so wrong – so patently irrational and unethical – it not only seemed necessary to change, it seemed it would be easy to change. Nevertheless, it hasn’t been easy to change. Today, in response to the intersex rights movement, human rights organizations all over the world, right up to various programs of the United Nations, have condemned what happens to intersex children in pediatrics hospitals worldwide. Yet the condemned practices continue as “standard of care.” This article attempts to parse out why that is and mostly to describe some of how I’ve helped, as an historian of medicine and sexuality, with the intersex rights movement.

Participants are expected to read this article in advance. If you are planning to participate, write to Sunguk Jung (jung.sunguk@mail.utoronto.ca) for a copy of the article. Join us for this exciting event!